Ultra-distance runner Steven Mackay, the former Brora Rangers and Ross County football star, is aiming to raise £50,000 for MFR Cash for Kids by running the entire North Coast 500 tourist trail in 10 days; adventure will take the Elgin City assistant manager around the stunning Highland coast and through his Invergordon hometown before finishing at Inverness Castle
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A footballer turned ultra-distance adventurer is planning an extraordinary running challenge around Scotland’s most famous tourist trail.
Inverness-based Steven Mackay, the former Ross County midfielder, is aiming to pound out the entire North Coast 500 route in just 10 days.
Last June, Mackay succeeded in raising more than £20,000 for Moray Firth Radio’s Cash for Kids charity by running 104.8 miles non-stop from Wick to Inverness.
The year before, he completed an 80-mile dash from Inverness to Brora in around 18.5 hours, raising more than £17,000 for the same cause.
The beautiful 516-mile coastal route will be another huge stride into the unknown for gutsy ‘Sid’, pushing body and mind to extremes of endurance.
Hitting his target will require two full marathons each day, starting on May 20, but the reward could be a target £50,000 for a charity close to his heart.
“I just want to see what’s possible, how far I can push myself,” Mackay said. “I didn’t necessarily think my past challenges would be possible. I was really nervous about my chances. It is similar now, but I just want to see what I’m capable of.”
The 40-year-old athlete’s dedication to endurance training is all the more impressive given personal circumstances.
Long training hours compete with his assistant manager’s role at Elgin City, family commitments and a full-time career which regularly takes him from his Inverness home to Dunfermline and Manchester as operations director for an oil and gas-related firm.
Mackay has sought out advice from Scotsman Luke Ivory who, incredibly, ran the North Coast 500 last year in just five days, 23 hours and four minutes.
“I take a little bit of solace in the fact it has been done previously, albeit there’s no way I’m going to match the phenomenal time of Luke who ran over 80 miles a day,” he said.
“For me, it will be two marathons a day for 10 days – and it might be the end of me! It is partly trying to get my head around it. How do you train for something like this? I’m just trying to get miles in my legs. I’m doing a half-marathon tomorrow and a marathon on Sunday. I’ll keep plodding away.
“I’ve been in contact with Luke for advice. As it stands I’m feeling OK physically, but a little bit nervous.”
Mackay will start and finish at Inverness Castle, tackling the route anti-clockwise. As in past years friends, team-mates and his sons Dylan (13) and Mason (8) have taken on stretches of the route. He joked that a chat group for past participants in his challenges had suffered a few sudden departures on announcing the new test of endurance.
With Lindsay Rose of MFR, Mackay is now aiming for a huge fundraising push with individuals and businesses who can take advantage of special sponsorship packages.
“We’re pushing it hard this year,” he said. “I’ve been a pest to people over the last few years, asking them to cough up their hard-earned money, but it is an amazing cause I believe in so much.”
